Double heterostructure planar waveguides with an InGaAs/InP multiple quantum well (MQW) core and InP cladding layers were grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Ridge waveguides had a low propagation loss of 0.8 dB/cm for 1.52 &mgr;m input light. The indices of refraction for the guided TE and TM modes have been measured and the bulk dispersion curves of the MQW material for the 1.46–1.55 &mgr;m wavelength region were derived.